[filmscanners] Re: Black and white scans on LS4000 ED andotherissues

["Simon Lamb" <simon@sclamb.com>]

Arthur Entlich wrote

Simon Lamb wrote:

>> Here is a response from Nikon regarding the issue of scanning black and
>> white as RGB on the LS4000 ED (the interframe gap issue) and the subject
of
>> picking up imperfections and grain.
>>
>>
>> Grain and film base imperfections:
>>
>> 'If a scanner did not pick up imperfections present in the film then I
would
>> worry about what detail it was missing in the image itself. It is true
that
>> the light-source and quality of the optics in the scanner does mean that
>> more imperfections are recorded than other manufacturers products however
it
>> also means that more image detail & sharper scans are produced.
>> Unfortunately the ICE technology relies on the passage of infra-red light
>> through the film which precludes it from being used on black & white
>> negatives due to their optical properties. XP2 or any C41 process black &
>> white film will however be completely usable with ICE.'
>>
>>
>And this from the same company that told us the LS8000 never banded, and
>then change it to "well it bands sometimes, but we offer you this fix of
>using superfine mode, at one-third the speed"...
>
>Or, you could just stop shooting true Black and white film and use
>chromogenic films instead....
>
>I guess Nikon has never heard of the potential benefits of diffused
>light sources.
>
>I do just as they say, I sit here and worry about what detail is
>missing.... ;-)
>

Art

To be fair, no scanner manufacturer will state that black and white film is
easy to scan, and none will say that dICE can be used on such film.  The
Nikon person was quite rightly stating is that if you want to use dICE then
you must use a C41 process black and white film.

I remain disappointed that they state you cannot scan black and white as RGB
positive, even intimating that one would be manipulating a lesser quality
scan in Photoshop than if the scan had been done as a monochrome scan.  That
is just nonsense as an RGB scan will not capture any less information and
can improve the dynamic range of the captured image.  I regularly see
smoother tonal transitions and more detail in an RGB scan of a monochrome
neg compared to doing a 16-bit greyscale scan.

I do accept that the LS4000 will not find the interframe gaps and so will
not align the frame to be scanned properly, which therefore negates any form
of single frame or batch scanning of black and white negs in RGB mode.

Simon

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